“We don’t just want to sell a property that somebody’s going to leave vacant and not do anything with. It’s not just the baseline price of what they’re proposing to buy our building for, but it’s also what they’re proposing to do with that building.”

Teeuwen says the county is selling the buildings to reduce costs and generate revenues, and will save $56 million over ten years by consolidating operations under one roof.

The county will decide by the end of this year whether to lease existing downtown office space, or construct a new administration building. The county hopes to move out of its current headquarters and into a new facility by early 2014.